Guide to Encounter at Blackwall Keep
A guide to running Encounter at Blackwall Keep, the third Age of Worms adventure — the keep siege, the Mistmarsh lizardfolk diplomacy, and the terrifying Spawn of Kyuss confrontation.
Campaigns
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A guide to running Encounter at Blackwall Keep, the third Age of Worms adventure — the keep siege, the Mistmarsh lizardfolk diplomacy, and the terrifying Spawn of Kyuss confrontation.
Part 4 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the kenku-filled Labyrinth of Vecna, the Faceless One's escape, and a full 5e stat conversion of the Ebon Aspect boss fight.
Part 3 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the pitch-dark Caves of Erythnul, from the grimlock ambush on the ledge to the showdown with Gralluck Kur's hallucinogenic shrine fire.
Part 2 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — a room-by-room breakdown of the Dark Cathedral (Hextor's temple), with a dynamic enemy response table showing how the cult reacts to the intrusion.
Part 1 of the DM guide to The Three Faces of Evil — the modified Call to Action using Balabar Smenk as a coercive villain hook, and detailed notes on infiltrating the Dourstone mine.
A master index of all Age of Worms content on this blog — reviews, DM guides for each adventure, and supplements for the classic Greyhawk adventure path, updated as new posts are published.
Part 3 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the outside interlude, interrogating Kullen's grave robbers at the Feral Dog, and defeating Filge the necromancer at the abandoned observatory.
Part 2 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the false tomb's seven-lantern puzzle, the deadly Screaming Mouth trap, the underwater Laborer's area, and Alastor's haunted gauntlet.
Part 1 of the 5e DM guide to The Whispering Cairn — the tomb entrance, wolf den, and Gallery of Seven Lanterns, with room-by-room checks, 5e trap conversions, and stat block recommendations.
A detailed review of The Three Faces of Evil, the second Age of Worms adventure — a dungeon crawl through three evil cults that is better than its lackluster reputation suggests.
Post-mortem on running the Vault of Dragons finale of Dragon Heist — tips on the enthralling fresco, negotiating with Aurinax, and balancing the climactic Manshoon fight with Doom Raider backup.
A review of tools for running a hybrid D&D session — VorpalBoard streaming, Dwarven Forge Watchtower terrain, a Jabra speakerphone, and miniature recommendations for Mystery of Maeralon's Tower.
A complete Dragon Heist faction quest — The Mystery of Maeralon's Tower, a four-floor wizard tower with a wild magic zone, animated ballista, stone cursed, clockwork iron cobra, and mimic.
Practical lessons from ten sessions of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist — gold pacing, faction assignments, villain selection, season choice, and the best DM's Guild supplements to expand the campaign.
A primer on the Forgotten Realms for players new to the lore — major historical events from Netheril to the Second Sundering, plus iconic heroes like Elminster, Drizzt, and the Seven Sisters.
Guide to the final chapter of Part 2 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — the Mausoleum of Chronepsis time dragon encounters, Semuanya's Bog, and notes on optional Outlands locations.
Guide to Sylvania, gate-town to Arborea in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a roleplay-heavy chapter where the characters babysit a petulant demigod named Kopoha through a series of wild celebrations.
Guide to Rigus, the militaristic gate-town to Acheron in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — the characters must root out a gray slaad spy before coordinated Acheron attacks exploit the defenders' weaknesses.
Guide to Glorium, the glory-obsessed gate-town to Ysgard in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — games of athletic prowess ashore, then a race across the sea to defend a bariaur village from a massive whirlwyrm.
Session 0 guide for a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist campaign — six truths about Waterdeep, house rules for the 2024 Player's Handbook, faction options, and safety tools for an urban investigation adventure.
Guide to Faunel, the half-absorbed beastland gate-town in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — solving the murder of an ibex to track the Vile Hunt gnolls terrorizing the wild, aided by an elephant sage.
Announcement of the DM's Guild release of the comprehensive guide to Part 2 of Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, collecting all the Outlands gate-town chapters in one PDF.
Guide to Excelsior, the celestial gate-town to Mount Celestia in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — investigating a tiefling selling primes to a night hag, with notes on the tricky glibness-protected interrogation.
Guide to Curst, the prison gate-town to Carceri in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a jailbreak through a junkyard to smuggle a ghostly son past Mercykiller agents so he can reach his rightful afterlife.
Guide to Automata, the orderly gate-town to Mechanus in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — tracking a fugitive through the anarchic Inverse, the chaotic underground reflection of the modron-run city above.
Guide to Chapter 4 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — securing the walking castle Iedcaru from fiends, learning the mimir quest from the freed sage Zaythir, and the lore of the early Great Modron March.
Guide to Chapter 10 of Light of Xaryxis — the multi-faction fleet battle to reach the Citadel of Xaryxis, with tips for managing ship combat and keeping the session from becoming a combat slog.
Guide to Chapter 9 of Light of Xaryxis — a challenging diplomacy chapter requiring the characters to convince five alien factions to join the war effort, with advice for sharing the spotlight.
Guide to Chapter 8 of Light of Xaryxis — negotiating with the mercane warlord Vocath, then surviving three escalating arena fights against exotic Wildspace creatures to earn his military alliance.
Guide to Chapter 7 of Light of Xaryxis — a character-driven travel chapter to Doomspace, building bonds with the NPC crew and a memorable Deck of Many Things fortune-telling with Topolah.
Guide to Part 2 of Light of Xaryxis — expanded Rock of Bral encounters, recruiting vampirate Grimzod and navigator Topolah, and surviving Hastain the reigar's sabotage that strands the party.
Guide to Fortune's Wheel casino in Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a room-by-room breakdown of Shemeska's casino, with gambling mechanics, Vecna impersonator thieves, and the hour Shemeska finally appears.
“A collection of scenes for the characters' free exploration of Sigil — the Smoldering Corpse Bar, Fell's Tattoos, the Great Bazaar, and the Harmonium encounter that closes the chapter.”
Introduction to the Sigil sandbox chapter of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — a glitch memory mechanic for inspiration and a bingo card structure to give players direction while exploring the City of Doors.
Guide to Chapter 1 of Turn of Fortune's Wheel — escaping Sigil's Mortuary, with room-by-room notes, tips for increasing lethality to trigger glitch deaths, and advice on the Morte callback scene.
A session 0 guide for running Planescape: Turn of Fortune's Wheel, including everything players need to know to kick things off.
Guide to Part 1 of Light of Xaryxis — escaping the astral seed attack on Faerun, a space battle with an astral elf Star Moth, and exploring the dangerous derelict mind flayer ship Lucent Edict.
A guide to deciding whether to run Ghosts of Saltmarsh — a great coastal home base and several standout sub-adventures, but thin connective tissue that requires significant DM work to hold together.
A guide to deciding whether to run Out of the Abyss — atmospheric Underdark setting and demon lord showdowns weighed against an unwieldy NPC roster and a structure that frustrates contrarian players.
A guide to deciding whether to run Dungeon of the Mad Mage — the best 5e dungeon crawl with brilliant individual levels, but requiring real DM effort to weave into a coherent narrative.
A guide to deciding whether to run Storm King's Thunder, with a chapter-by-chapter portability breakdown — great building blocks and a fantastic Savage Frontier chapter, but uneven quality throughout.
A guide to deciding whether to run Curse of Strahd — widely considered the best 5e adventure, with an unmatched sandbox and villain, but too challenging for first-time DMs to tackle.
A guide to deciding whether to run Tyranny of Dragons — a classic 5e adventure with a memorable caravan chapter worth stealing for travel even if you skip the rest of the campaign.
A guide to deciding whether to run Dragon of Icespire Keep — an excellent starter adventure for new DMs and players, with individual quests versatile enough to steal for any low-level Sword Coast campaign.